


Reflection

by Higgies230



Series: Mismatched Family [11]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Birthday, Established Relationship, Light Angst, M/M, Married Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 21:04:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17352554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higgies230/pseuds/Higgies230
Summary: There were so many things going through Ian’s mind of he pulled himself out of bed that morning. He had an early shift today, a short six hour one too, so that he would be able to see his kids as it was his twins’ birthday. Mickey at this moment was still asleep as was the three children, Ian however knew that he needed to be out of the house quarter an hour before anyone else so he wanted to be ready before anyone else got up. It was just evidence enough that his boys were growing up that it was their birthday and they were still asleep and Ian was going to use this right now.





	Reflection

   There were so many things going through Ian’s mind of he pulled himself out of bed that morning. He had an early shift today, a short six hour one too, so that he would be able to see his kids as it was his twins’ birthday. Mickey at this moment was still asleep as was the three children, Ian however knew that he needed to be out of the house quarter an hour before anyone else so he wanted to be ready before anyone else got up. It was just evidence enough that his boys were growing up that it was their birthday and they were still asleep and Ian was going to use this right now.

  Opening the door, he was met by Bear stretching up, bum in the air, tail curling over his back and front paws stretched before him. They had tried to get him to sleep downstairs in his bed for the first few months that they had had him but they always found him outside of their bedroom door in the morning. So, officially three months after they had him, they moved his bed upstairs and it really was lovely to be greeted each morning. The dog came up and leaned against Ian’s leg, the redhead complying with his not so subtle hint and scratching behind his ears.

  “I’ll feed you after I’ve showered and dressed okay buddy,” Ian promised quietly after a moment, shifting away from the dog and moving towards the bathroom.

  Ian could say that it was one of his very favourite things about their house, the one that they had been living in for the last eighteen months; the water pressure. He shut and locked the door- the kids had no sense of privacy- and stepped out of his boxers and into the shower. The only thing with having the relaxing press of the hot water on his skin was that it relaxed his mind also. There had been thoughts plaguing him for the last few days but today they were strongest.

  Sighing, he ran a soapy hand through his hair, raising his face up so the water hit him full on and ran down his body. The thoughts brought him an aching mix of regret and guilt, the guilt being brought on by his regret. See the thing was, when he went downstairs and made a birthday breakfast for the children and they all sat down to open presents, they would be celebrating the twins’ eleventh birthday. They were eleven already after Ian had just celebrated his twenty ninth birthday. He wasn’t even thirty yet and his boys were over a decade.

  The reminder each year was one that he hid from Mickey, he didn’t regret his boys, he loved them more than he thought would ever be possible, but he did regret how young he was when he had them. Logically, he knew it was his own fault, they didn’t know he was a carrier before and he had been the one that chose to keep the supposedly one baby. He and Mickey had become full on parents the first year that Ian had been an adult and he had cut his childhood short. Well not childhood… in their house he had grown up into adulthood many years before, more like he had never has that chance to just go out and live with no responsibilities.

  Every time these thoughts then came over him he felt so fucking guilty. He tried to think about other things instead. Shutting off the water, Ian climbed out of the shower and roughly dried his hair before wrapping the towel around his waist. Teeth brushing and pissing then he was done.

  Bear greeted him again as he left, obviously excited to get his breakfast but he needed to get dressed first. Mickey was still asleep on his stomach, one arm around the pillow and snoring gently as Ian re-entered their room so he crept around as he pulled on his uniform. He pressed a light kiss to his husband’s temple before leaving the room again, it was Mickey’s day off so he would wake him up when he woke up the kids for breakfast.

  The routine was so set that he was able to sink back into his thoughts as he set Bear’s breakfast down in front of him, watching him wolf it down before turning to the stove. Pancakes today despite it being a school morning as a birthday treat.

  He looked up and saw the old picture of him and Mickey holding the twins when they were but toddlers and couldn’t help but remember it. He had heard of terrible twos, vaguely remembered it with Carl and vividly remembered it was Liam but he hadn’t been responsible for the two of them. Having two little monsters going through it at the same time had been a nightmare, if one went off the other would without fail follow.

  The very first time that they had experienced a public tantrum they had been in the park and Ian thought Mickey was going to kill the boys. His husband, or boyfriend as he was back then, was always so patient with the boys- something that had surprised Ian at first- but that day when they wouldn’t stop the brunette looked like he was going to breathe fire. It had all been because it was time to go home and in the end Ian and Mickey had carried off a screaming boy each with lots of people staring.

  Even at home when they were told to do one thing and did the opposite because they were horrible little shits. There was genuinely a while where Ian had despaired, had thought that they wouldn’t make it but now everything was fine. Manda, even as a single baby, was so much less work than the twins, sure she had rebelled some what but it was barely ever in comparison to the hell her brothers had put them through.

  Finishing the last pancake, he platted up the stack and put the plates on the table along with any toppings that people would want. Quickly taking his pills and making sure Bear had finished his bowl- he had- Ian went to the stairs and yelled.

  “Birthday breakfast!”

  There was instantly the sound of delicate little fairies, or a heard of elephants, and then there was a child flying down the stairs at him. Birthday breakfast meant that they got dressed after so the kids could get it while it was warm. The child that had just jumped into his arms was Manda, the little girl wrapping her arms around his neck and wishing him good morning. He would run his fingers through her hair but settled for patting her head knowing that he would have to get through a tonne of knots.

  A moment later, his boys were there in all their freckled glory, Alex’s flaming hair standing up in every direction and Ronan’s looking supernaturally tame. The pair of them had huge grins and joined in with the pile on hug.

  “Happy birthday boys,” Ian greeted.


End file.
